WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney will spend Election Day on his first hunting trip since he accidentally shot a companion in February while aiming at a covey of quail on a private Texas ranch.
The vice president, after working at the White House this morning, will head to South Dakota to spend several days at a private hunting lodge near Pierre. Lea Anne McBride, his press secretary, said it was an annual hunting outing and said Cheney spent Election Day in 2002 at the same lodge.
On a Feb. 11 hunting trip in Texas, Cheney shot attorney Harry Whittington in the torso, neck and face when he pulled the trigger on his 28-gauge shotgun. The vice president later called it “one of the worst days of my life” and said, “The image of him falling is something I’ll never ever be able to get out of my mind.” Whittington was hospitalized for six days.
California: Firefighters mourned
The five men killed in the deadliest wildfire disaster in more than a decade were remembered Sunday in Devore as both heroes and regular guys at a memorial service attended by more than 10,000 people. The five were killed Oct. 26 when a wind-driven blaze drove down as they tried to save a house in the rural community of Twin Pines, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. Sunday’s memorial was held at a large outdoor arena in the mountains, not far from the area the firefighters protected. Killed at the scene were firefighters Jason McKay, 27; Jess McLean, 27; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20. Mark Loutzenhiser, 43, the captain of Engine 57, died soon after at a hospital. Firefighter Pablo Cerda, 23, died a few days later. The fire is believed to have been intentionally set.
Nevada: Rubble yields more bodies
Two more bodies were recovered Sunday from the rubble of a Reno hotel, bringing the death toll to 11 in the city’s deadliest fire. Officials said the toll could still rise. The bodies were found in the most heavily damaged section of the Mizpah Hotel, an 84-year-old Reno landmark, said fire department spokesman Steve Frady, adding that the recovery effort will continue at least through today. At least 30 people were injured in Tuesday’s fire, three critically. Police arrested a casino cook and paroled killer who they suspect started the blaze by igniting a mattress.
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